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To disclose generative-AI content in a Steamworks submission, complete the game’s Content Survey before sending its store page and build for review. In the survey’s generative-AI section, report player-facing AI content made during development as Pre-Generated, and content created while the game runs as Live-Generated. For live generation, explain the safeguards you actually deploy to prevent illegal output. Make the survey, store page and submitted build describe the same product. Disclosure is only a description of the game; it does not waive Steam’s rules on content, rights or legality.

What does Steam require you to disclose?

Valve’s Content Survey contains general-content, mature-content and generative-AI sections. Complete all applicable sections before putting the store page and build into review. Valve compares the answers with what appears on the store page and in the build, so an answer that omits a player-facing feature or overstates a safeguard can create a review problem. The official survey documentation is at Steamworks Content Survey.

The AI section is aimed at AI-assisted content that ships with the game and is consumed by players. Valve gives artwork, sound, narrative and localization as examples. The documentation does not say that every AI-powered development tool, coding assistant or internal productivity tool must be reported. Treat that as a scope boundary, not a blanket exemption: if a tool helped create material players receive, inventory that material and answer for it.

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Use the category that describes when the player-facing content was created:

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Category When the AI creates content What to explain Example
Pre-Generated During development, before the content ships with the game What AI-assisted content players consume and how it is included in the release Illustrations, music, localized dialogue or other assets prepared before launch
Live-Generated While the game is running What is generated, when it appears, and the guardrails that prevent illegal output Runtime AI-assisted dialogue generated in response to a player’s actions

A game can use both categories. For example, a title might ship with AI-assisted character portraits and also generate dialogue during play. Describe each implementation rather than forcing every use into one label.

How do Pre-Generated and Live-Generated AI differ?

Pre-Generated content is made with AI assistance during development and delivered as part of the installed or downloadable game. Live-Generated content is made with AI assistance after the player starts the game, so the submission must also address controls that operate at runtime.

Pre-Generated content

List the player-facing assets that were created or materially assisted by AI before release. Useful inventory headings include artwork, sound or music, written narrative, character or quest text, and localization. Explain the role of the AI and the form in which the result reaches players; do not imply that a tool was used only for efficiency if it produced an asset players see or hear.

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Pre-generation does not lower the normal bar for the shipped result. The material still needs to comply with Steam’s content rules, your rights and licensing obligations, and the promises made by the store page. A generated image that is included in a menu is still part of the product, even though no model runs on the player’s machine.

Live-Generated content

Live generation occurs during play. It can include model-assisted dialogue, descriptions, quests, images, audio or other output assembled in response to player input or game state. State what the player can cause, whether prompts are fixed or user supplied, and where the output is displayed.

Valve specifically asks for an explanation of guardrails against illegal generation for live-generated content. Describe safeguards that are implemented in the submitted build or service, such as the actual input restrictions, output filtering, moderation, reporting, blocking, escalation or shutdown controls you operate. Do not list a planned control as though it is already deployed, and do not claim that a generic content policy is a technical safeguard unless it is enforced in the product.

How should I inventory AI-assisted content before opening the survey?

Prepare a player-facing inventory first. This makes the questionnaire easier to answer consistently without assuming that Valve requires a particular spreadsheet or format.

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  1. Separate shipped assets from runtime output. Mark each item as made before release or generated while the game runs.
  2. Group the assets by what players consume. Record art, sound, music, narrative, dialogue, localization and any other player-visible or player-audible material separately.
  3. Record the delivery path. Note whether an item is installed with the build, downloaded as game content, generated by a server, or produced locally during play.
  4. Identify user influence. For runtime systems, document whether players supply prompts, choose from fixed options, or only trigger generation through game actions.
  5. Document controls for live output. Keep the real filters, blocked categories, review queues, reporting route and emergency disable process that exist in the release candidate.
  6. Check rights and marketing language. Confirm that you can distribute the source material and that descriptions, screenshots and trailers do not promise a narrower or safer experience than the build delivers.

This inventory is a preparation aid, not a substitute for the survey. The survey answers remain the official disclosure, and they need to reflect the product submitted for review.

How do I complete the Steamworks Content Survey?

Use the game’s Content Survey in Steamworks and finish it before submitting the store page and build for review. Valve’s public documentation does not establish the partner-only navigation path, exact button labels inside the questionnaire or field-length limits, so follow the labels shown in your Steamworks account rather than relying on an unofficial step list.

  1. Open the game’s Content Survey. Use the Steamworks partner account for the specific app and work on the release candidate, not an earlier prototype.
  2. Complete the general-content section. Answer the ordinary content questions for the game as it will be distributed.
  3. Complete the mature-content section where applicable. Include material that is present in the build or store presentation, even if it is optional or appears only after a player choice.
  4. Complete the generative-AI section. Select or describe Pre-Generated, Live-Generated, or both according to when the player-facing output is made. Explain the implementation in concrete terms.
  5. Describe live-generation safeguards. If output is created at runtime, state the guardrails actually operating in the release candidate and how they address illegal generation.
  6. Save and review every answer against the inventory. Check that terminology, examples and scope match the build and the store page.
  7. Submit the store page and build through Steamworks readiness actions. Leave time for review rather than treating survey completion as approval.

Valve’s review documentation advises allowing at least seven business days for each submission. The same documentation says an individual review typically takes three to five business days; the longer planning allowance is the safer schedule when both a store page and a build are entering review.

What guardrails should I describe for live-generated AI?

Steam does not publish a universal checklist of named filters or a required vendor architecture in the Content Survey documentation. Your explanation should therefore be specific to the system you are shipping, while avoiding claims about controls that are absent or untested.

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  • Input controls: Explain whether free-form prompts are accepted and what restrictions, rate limits or blocked terms apply before a request reaches the model.
  • Output controls: Identify filtering, classification, rejection or replacement applied to generated text, images, audio or other media before players see it.
  • Player-facing controls: State how players can report an output, avoid another player’s content, or disable a feature when those controls exist.
  • Operational response: Describe monitoring, logging, human review or an emergency switch only if your team actually operates those measures.
  • Scope of prevention: Explain what the controls are intended to block and acknowledge any meaningful limits instead of implying perfect prevention.

Keep the explanation aligned with the actual release architecture. A server-side moderation service, a local model with a blocklist and a fixed-prompt dialogue system have different failure modes; describe the one you ship. The disclosure also cannot make illegal or unauthorized material acceptable under Steam’s other rules.

Does disclosure make an AI game automatically acceptable on Steam?

No. Valve treats the survey as information for review and customers, not as a safe harbor. Steam’s content rules still apply, and Valve’s onboarding guidance separately flags content distributed without adequate rights or in violation of applicable laws. Copyright, trademark, privacy, likeness and other permissions remain the developer’s responsibility.

Valve also says it does not currently want to ship games with live-generated Adult Only Sexual Content. If your runtime system can produce sexual material, assess the capability and the controls against the current policy before submission; do not assume that labeling the feature or adding a warning resolves the issue. Check the live wording in the Content Survey and Steam content documentation because platform policy can change.

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Marketing consistency matters as well. Screenshots, trailers, descriptions and feature lists should not conceal a material generative feature or promise guardrails that the build does not provide. A complete survey cannot cure a mismatch between the product customers are shown and the product they receive.

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What if AI was used only for development tools?

Valve’s stated focus for this survey section is player-consumed content, not every efficiency gain from an AI-equipped development tool. If an assistant helped refactor code, search documentation or automate internal project management without producing content players consume, the documentation does not identify that use as the subject of the generative-content questions.

The boundary depends on the result, not the marketing label of the tool. If the same workflow generated dialogue, art, sound, localization or another asset that ships in the game, treat that output as player-facing content and classify it by when it was created. When a tool has both internal and content-producing uses, document the latter separately so the survey answer is neither broader nor narrower than the release.

How should I handle runtime AI costs and player payments?

If each live interaction incurs a service cost, Valve’s FAQ says the developer manages player access and collects player payments through a Steam-supported method. The FAQ mentions incorporating the cost into the base price, using microtransactions, subscriptions or DLC as possible approaches. These are operational possibilities, not a replacement for the Content Survey disclosure and not a recommendation to use an external payment service.

Decide how access works before review: who can trigger generation, whether usage is unlimited or metered, what happens when a quota is exhausted, and how the player is told about any charge. Your store page and in-game purchase flow should describe the same arrangement that the submitted build implements.

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How do I keep the survey, store page and build consistent?

Run a final three-way comparison immediately before submission. Valve compares the survey with both the store page and the build, so consistency is a release task rather than a one-time form entry.

  • Search the store description, screenshots, trailers and feature bullets for every generative feature named in the survey.
  • Play the release candidate through paths that trigger optional, hidden, user-generated and runtime output.
  • Confirm that the category is correct: assets made before release are Pre-Generated; output made during play is Live-Generated.
  • Verify that each live safeguard described in the survey is present in the submitted build or service configuration.
  • Check age ratings, mature-content answers and AI answers together; a runtime feature can affect more than one section.
  • Record the build number and store-page revision used for the comparison so a later change can be traced.

Valve’s documentation says the surveys help identify whether a product requires updates. In its FAQ, Valve states: “These surveys will help us identify whether or not your product requires any updates.” That statement describes the purpose of the survey; it is not a promise that a completed form will pass review.

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Can I change an AI disclosure after approval?

Some survey answers cannot be edited directly after the build and store page are approved. For those changes, contact Steam Support, explain what changed, identify the affected answer and provide a route for testers to see the change. Keep the explanation tied to the product update rather than submitting a new answer without context.

Updating an approved game does not generally require repeating the release review, but that general rule does not remove the separate Support requirement for survey-answer changes that Steam locks. A new runtime model, a newly added generation mode or a materially different safeguard can therefore require both a product update plan and a Support conversation.

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What are the most common disclosure mistakes?

Calling all AI use “development only”

An internal tool may be outside the section’s stated focus, but shipped AI-assisted dialogue or art is not merely an internal use. Classify the player-facing result and explain it.

Putting runtime output under Pre-Generated

Generation that occurs after launch or during a play session is Live-Generated, even when the prompt template was authored in advance. The timing of creation controls the category.

Describing hypothetical moderation

Do not write that a filter, review queue or emergency switch exists unless it is deployed for the submitted product. The live-AI answer calls for the guardrails you actually use.

Assuming disclosure cures rights problems

AI assistance does not transfer copyright, license a training source or authorize a person’s likeness. Resolve rights and legal issues independently of the survey.

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Promising a public badge or fixed store location

The public documentation says survey answers help customers understand the product, but it does not establish one universal badge or exact public placement for every answer. Do not advertise a display treatment that Steam has not confirmed for your app.

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Submitting too close to launch

Plan for at least seven business days for each submission, even though Valve says a typical review takes three to five business days. A correction to the survey, store page or build can add another review cycle.

Final pre-submission checklist

  • All three Content Survey sections are complete where applicable.
  • Every player-facing AI-assisted asset is identified as Pre-Generated or Live-Generated.
  • Runtime output has a written description of the safeguards actually deployed against illegal generation.
  • The store page, screenshots, trailers and build match the survey’s scope and terminology.
  • Rights, licensing and legal-distribution checks are complete independently of disclosure.
  • Any live-generation payment or access model uses a Steam-supported collection method and is explained to players.
  • The review schedule allows at least seven business days per submission.
  • A plan exists for contacting Steam Support if an approved survey answer later needs to change.

Complete the survey as a factual description of the release you are submitting. Correct classification, concrete runtime safeguards and a three-way consistency check give reviewers and players a clearer account of what the game actually does, while Steam’s ordinary content, rights and legal rules continue to govern the result.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to disclose AI used to write code for my Steam game?

Valve’s Content Survey documentation focuses on AI-assisted content that players consume, such as art, sound, narrative and localization. A coding assistant used only for internal development is not identified as the subject of that section; disclose any player-facing assets the workflow produced.

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Where will Steam show my generative-AI disclosure on the store page?

Valve says the surveys help customers understand a product, but the public documentation does not promise one badge or fixed location for every answer. Avoid advertising a specific store-page treatment unless Steam has confirmed it for your app.

What should I do if my live model can produce an output I did not anticipate?

Describe the controls that operate before and after generation, along with the player reporting and emergency-response procedures you actually have. Do not present an aspirational filter as deployed, and reassess the build before submitting if the controls cannot address the risk.

Can I add live AI after my game has passed release review?

Treat a new runtime generation mode as a product and disclosure change, not merely a backend switch. Review the updated build and store messaging, then contact Steam Support if the relevant approved survey answer is locked.

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